Showing posts with label boston red sox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boston red sox. Show all posts

Red Sox Rule: Terry Francona and Boston's Rise to Dominance Review

Red Sox Rule: Terry Francona and Boston's Rise to Dominance
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Red Sox Rule: Terry Francona and Boston's Rise to Dominance ReviewAfter two World Series championships in four seasons, it's hard to reach back into the days of reversing the curse. It seems like something that our grandfathers had to deal with. In fact, the subject never comes up any more.
Instead, Jordan's Furniture came on the air to announce yesterday that if the Red Sox win the World Series in four straight in 2008 you will be reimbursed for your furniture purchases. It sounds crazy, but in 2004 and 2007 the Red Sox won in sweeps.
As I write this, the Red Sox are behind against the A's in Tokyo. Dice-K is all the rage and left with a no-decision.
I picked up Red Sox Rule to help get me into the mood for the new season. I was pleasantly surprised to learn new things about Terry Francona, Boston's championship manager. His job interview with Theo Epstein (the young GM) included two examinations! I also didn't know much about Francona's career as a player . . . nor his experience as manager of the Phillies.
When Francona was selected, I couldn't figure out why anyone would have chosen him. Having seen his work from the bench, I've been impressed by his heart, his discipline, his even-keeled personality, and his defense of the players. Francona is the right manager for Boston.
I had also forgotten that Francona had been Michael Jordan's manager while MJ was a baseball player. It was good to be reminded.
Those are the highlights of the book. Most of the rest is filler.
I found several aspects of the book to be disappointing:
1. The 2004 season is ignored.
2. The 2007 season is described too briefly.
3. You don't get much of a sense about how Francona combines old school instinct and new school statistics although Mr. Holley is fond of repeating the point.
4. Although Francona loves to talk baseball, there's not much of his philosophy of managing in the book. You get a brief reference instead such as how he'll bring team issues to the attention of Big Papi who will take care of things for Francona.
5. There is no index.
6. The focus is on explaining the Red Sox to those who don't know the team. That's weird. Yankee fans aren't going to read this book.
I can't imagine that Terry Francona held back a lot from Mr. Holley. My impression is that Mr. Holley wasn't sure how to write about managing. That is a missed opportunity.
After the next World Series championship in Boston, I hope another writer will take on this subject and do a better job.
As a side point, I would like to warn you that my copy is filled with smeared type as though the pages weren't printed properly. If you want to have a pretty copy, you might want to buy yours at a book store where you can check the printing quality before your purchase.Red Sox Rule: Terry Francona and Boston's Rise to Dominance Overview
The story of the changing face of baseball and the inner workings of its finest organization

After a hundred "cursed" years, the Boston Red Sox rose gloriously to baseball domination. Under the leadership of manager Terry Francona, an extraordinary team of wildly disparate personalities—from the inscrutable Manny Ramirez to the affable David "Big Papi" Ortiz—pulled off two improbable post-season comebacks to make it to the World Series twice in three years . . . and ultimately emerged victorious. In Red Sox Rule, Michael Holley, bestselling author of Patriot Reign, provides a fascinating, insightful, and surprising inside look at how it all happened.

With the exclusive cooperation of Terry Francona and stories from the clubhouse and the conference room, Holley reveals the private sessions and the dugout and front-office strategies that have made the Red Sox a budding dynasty, overtaking their archrivals, the powerful New York Yankees, as the American League's elite team.


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Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top Review

Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top
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Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top ReviewIn general, I enjoyed this book; Seth Mnookin is a good writer, if a little bland, and the book flowed nicely. But it had plenty of problems. Let's make a list:
The Good
1)It's easy to understand, even if you don't know too much about baseball. I consider myself an avid Red Sox fan and a baseball connoisseur, so explanations of ERA and batting average bored me, but it does make the book more inclusive to a wider audience. It also includes a brief history of the team for those that are less familiar with it.
2)There are plenty of entertaining anecdotes and side stories in here. The sections on Nomar are particularly well-done. I now have more background information on the Red Sox ownership troika than I would have ever thought possible. What an interesting group of people.
3)The section on the sale of the team would make a new book in and of itself, and is very well-done and interesting, providing you have a rudimentary understanding of economics and finance. If you don't, or hate numbers, prepare to be bored silly and skip about 75 pages.
4)There is a lot of new information on the process that brought about the Schilling trade. I found the tale of Jed Hoyer's ugly Thanksgiving stomach virus to be two of the funniest paragraphs in the whole book, though I'm sure Jed would disagree.
5)And, of course, the famous Epstein/Lucchino rift is very well-documented and traced, to the point that I found myself getting frustrated with the characters for not noticing that Theo was acting increasingly bizarre and doing something about it months earlier. If Mnookin noticed, somebody else should have. A very nice job leading into the final explosion.
The bad:
1)I said there is a lot of background information that makes it more inclusive for casual fans. This is true, but the corollary is that if you are a true Red Sox fan, many parts of this book will drive you batty. The entire history of the team section at the beginning is largely irrelevant to the rest of the book, and Mnookin spends way too much time rehashing information that most respectable Sox fans already know, like descriptions of games and whatnot. It really slogs at times.
2)For a guy who spent all this time with the Red Sox front office, he sure didn't include as much revelatory material as I thought he would. It was a disappointment. Casual fans may be impressed, but hard-core Red Sox fans will recognize many of his insights as already being common knowledge from Boston Globe or even AP stories.
3)The style is easy to follow but also fairly pedantic and dry.
4)Mnookin does a good job with the Epstein/Lucchino fiasco right up until Theo quits, and then after that his analysis is severely lacking. I realize that he was not with the team much after this point, but given that this was one of the most momentous things to occur in the history of the ownership group, which was exactly what he was writing about, you'd think he might put things off a little bit to try to gain more insight into what was going on.
5)The book gives a very sympathetic portrayal of pretty much every character except Dan Shaughnessy. Not that there is a problem with portraying Shaughnessy as a jerk, because he is. But John Henry is not a saint. Tom Werner is not a saint. Larry Lucchino sure isn't a saint (to be fair, his portrayal was more negative). And I got the distinct impression that Mnookin didn't have nearly as much insight into Epstein as he did into the ownership troika. That's not to say there wasn't any, because there was, and I understand that Epstein is not, by nature, eager to open up to someone like Mnookin, but it was noticeable.
5)The pictures. Funny thing to get upset about, I know. But he spent a year there. Did he bring a camera? There isn't one single picture of the Fenway offices or any of the characters at work or with Mnookin or any such thing. No pictures of Joe O'Donnell or any lesser characters. I recognized every single photo from the Globe or AP except the one of Theo against some graffiti-covered wall. Visuals would be nice, thanks.
I'd recommend the book, but be prepared for it not to be quite what you thought it was going to be.Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top Overview

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'78: The Boston Red Sox, A Historic Game, and a Divided City Review

'78: The Boston Red Sox, A Historic Game, and a Divided City
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'78: The Boston Red Sox, A Historic Game, and a Divided City ReviewRed Sox fans have watched over the past two decades as free agents have turned their city down, the most famous being David Justice. For anybody under 45 years of age, it's been a head-scratcher. Why is Boston labeled as a racist city by outsiders?
Reynolds' book explains the heavy racist hatred that plagued the city during the 1970s, through the story of the busing experiment that attempted to systematically integrate the city's neighborhood schools. Paralleling the busing story is the tale of the 1978 single game playoff between the Red Sox and Yankees, how it froze time in the city and focused everybody's concentration - black and white - on the game. The author also explores the hypocritical stance taken by many fans of the day, cheering black ballplayers like Jim Rice and George Scott, yet protesting busing once the games got out.
So the problem for Bostonians today is one of simple math. If they lived in the city in the mid-1970s and were cognizant of the busing controversy, they remember the hate. If David Justice had a friend who grew up in Boston during those turbulent, violent days, his opinion of the city could easily have been swayed. If you moved into Boston after 1980, you might never know the importance of the names Judge Garrity, Mel King and Louise Day Hicks.
In the end, the author uses the game as a metaphor for the race relations. After Carl Yastrzemski popped out to end the dramatic game, the Yankees visited the Red Sox clubhouse to say that neither team should have lost, that in the end, both teams should have been labeled winners.
If the Red Sox and Yankees could get along, so could South Boston and Roxbury.'78: The Boston Red Sox, A Historic Game, and a Divided City OverviewThe thrilling inside story behind a crucial chapter in Red Sox lore—and a turbulent time in a troubled city. George Steinbrenner called it the greatest game in the history of American sports. On a bright October day in 1978, the Boston Red Sox met the New York Yankees for an epic playoff game that would send one team to the World Series, and render the other cursed for almost a quarter of a century. In this book, award-winning sports columnist Bill Reynolds masterfully tells the story of the team and the players at this pivotal moment. This cultural history takes readers through the social issues that divided Boston that summer, and masterfully depicts their influence on one game beyond the realm of sports.

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Sliding Billy Hamilton: The Life and Times of Baseball's First Great Leadoff Hitter Review

Sliding Billy Hamilton: The Life and Times of Baseball's First Great Leadoff Hitter
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Sliding Billy Hamilton: The Life and Times of Baseball's First Great Leadoff Hitter ReviewWith the precision of an ace runner on the base paths, Society for America Baseball Research member Roy Kerr uncovers the life and times of a forgotten superstar through the exclusive use of primary resources in Sliding Billy Hamilton: The Life and Times of Baseball's First Great Leadoff Hitter. The recent publication is part of an ongoing series of dusting off the history of professional baseball by McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.
Hamilton patrolled the outfield in the pro game from 1888 to 1901 and still has a number of all-time records, including runs scored in a season (196 in 129 games in 1894), number of consecutive games scoring a run (24 in 1894), most consecutive games stealing a base (13 in 1891) and career steals per game average (1.74). He is one of only five batters to hit a leadoff and walk-off home run in one game and is tied with Ted Williams for sixth place in career batting average (.344).
Credited with either 912 or 937 career stolen bases, Hamilton was essentially a footnote in baseball history prior to his 1961 posthumous induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. And even the date of his death in December 1940 at age 74 in Worcester, Massachusetts, had been reported differently in media accounts, though it was on the fifteenth.
"I suggest that Hamilton's `invisibility' in baseball lore stems not from any aspect of his playing record," writes Kerr. "Rather, it derives at least partially from the fact that the `stories, anecdotes, and legends' that he did indeed leave behind simply would not have been considered newsworthy by most sportswriters of his era, who tended to focus more on the adventures of the game's showmen and scalawags in their columns.
"His aggressive, daring running and hitting style exhibited none of the `hoodlum' tactics that tended to make headlines. Off the field, he was a religious family man who abstained from alcohol. Notoriously thrifty, he saved money and invested in real estate."
Born on February 15, 1866, in Newark, New Jersey - which has been erroneously reported over the years as one day later - the legend of Hamilton before turning pro with the Kansas City Cowboys of the American Association may not have been greater than his real life. He did not have time to be the incredible young athlete that was often chronicled by scribes.
"Somewhere along the winding corridors of baseball history, a legend developed that Billy Hamilton attended Newark High School, and while there, ran a 10¾-second one-hundred-yard dash," Kerr writes. "The 1880 U.S. census lists Hamilton, age 14, as a cotton mill worker in Clinton (Massachusetts).
"Sliding Billy's journey from the cotton mill to the Baseball Hall of Fame is one that few could imagine, and one that fewer could realize."
Though there are no records of his earliest teams, Kerr does examine comments made by Hamilton during and after his playing days - along with the views of sportswriters and players - on how he learned the game. From playing minor league ball for Waterbury in 1887 and Worcester in 1888 (61 games), to his 35 games with Kansas City to close out the 1888 season - his contract was purchased by the Cowboys for $300 - and 1889 season with the AA club, Hamilton saw first-hand how the dollars and cents drive the sports marketplace.
"In three years of professional baseball, Billy had seen the first two leagues he played in collapse and disappear, and the first major league team he played for resign from its league and disband," writes Kerr.
In December 1889, Hamilton's contract was purchased by the Philadelphia Phillies for $3,000. In a controversial deal in November 1895, Hamilton was traded to the Boston Beaneaters for third baseman Billy Nash. It is regarded as one of the most lopsided deals in baseball history, according to Kerr.
"Years later, in an unusual admission of `trader's remorse,' Philadelphia co-owner Al Reach conceded that his team's decision to trade Sliding Billy had been a mistake," he writes. "`We should never have allowed him to go, had it not been for some bad advice that we got...we made a great mistake. Hamilton is without doubt one of the best players in the country.'"
Upon his retirement from the Beaneaters after the 1901 season, Hamilton stayed in the game as a minor league player-manager, bench-manager and team owner-manager. He also was hired for spring coaching stints at Dartmouth College, was a major league scout and - from 1917 to 1935 - held a variety of jobs with the Graton & Knight Company of Worcester.
"Could the life of a `straight arrow' player, an abstemious family man, be of any interest to today's baseball fan? Perhaps so. Perhaps such a life, deemed `old-fashioned' in Hamilton's day is it would be in ours, has acquired a certain resonance in the post-steroid era of the game, when fans, disheartened by deceit and scandal, may be looking for different heroes, different models of conduct," writes Kerr. "His critics accused him of being a `record player,' more interested in his own statistics than his team's success. However, in most of his life choices, he opted for a road less-traveled - a road, consequently, less noted by the press."Sliding Billy Hamilton: The Life and Times of Baseball's First Great Leadoff Hitter OverviewBilly Hamilton, whose major league career spanned 1888-1901, holds the all-time record for runs scored in a season (196 in 129 games), number of consecutive games scoring a run (24), and career runs scored per game (1.06); he shares records for most triples in a game (4) and sacrifices in a game (4); and his average of one steal every 1.74 games bests Ricky Henderson's. Despite these records, and his 1961 induction into the Hall of Fame, little has been written about him. This biography covers Hamilton's entire life, including his major league career with the Kansas City Cowboys, Philadelphia Phillies, and Boston Nationals, as well as his later career as a minor league player-manager and bench-manager, team owner, major league scout, and plant foreman. The author exclusively uses primary sources for all information dealing with Hamilton's career and personal life.

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Broadcast Rites and Sites: I Saw It on the Radio with the Boston Red Sox Review

Broadcast Rites and Sites: I Saw It on the Radio with the Boston Red Sox
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Broadcast Rites and Sites: I Saw It on the Radio with the Boston Red Sox ReviewThis book was awful. I lost this book halfway through and it didn't matter to me. Normally if I lost a book I would go through the house so I could finish it.
I'm a big Sox fan and Joe Castiglione is a great broadcaster, but he's not a great author. One star for trying.Broadcast Rites and Sites: I Saw It on the Radio with the Boston Red Sox Overview

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Boston Red Sox: 2007 World Series Champions (World Series: American League (Hardcover)) Review

Boston Red Sox: 2007 World Series Champions (World Series: American League (Hardcover))
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Boston Red Sox: 2007 World Series Champions (World Series: American League (Hardcover)) ReviewThe Boston Herald summary of the 2007 Red Sox Championship run has more information but far fewer photos than the Globe version. The Herald also focuses more on the regular season. The first third of the book covers games through September by including Herald stories from the time combined with quarter to half-page pictures. Writers Horrigan, Callahan, Massarotti, Buckley and Silverman are among those writing about the Sox.
The remainder of the book uses the same format in covering post-season games. The advantage this section has over the Globe version is the inclusion of the box score for each game. This book also has the final 2007 stats for all Sox players.
A true member of Red Sox Nation should probably have both the Herald and Globe version. If you are more interested in newspaper coverage of the team throughout the season, you may prefer this book. The quality, size and number of photos in the Boston Globe version (So Good), however, made that a much better way for me to relive and remember the season.Boston Red Sox: 2007 World Series Champions (World Series: American League (Hardcover)) OverviewIn the tradition of previous World Series championship books from Sports Publishing, Boston Red Sox: 2007 World Series Champions takes readers through the Red Sox' run to their second World Series championship in four seasons. Filled with quality color photography, the book highlights many moments of glory from the regular season, from Boston's five April wins over the rival New York Yankees through a September hot streak that secured the American League's Eastern Division title. There are lengthy sections on the playoff sweep of the Angels and the Red Sox' come-from-behind, seven-game triumph over the Cleveland Indians in the National League Championship series. Profile sections help readers get to know key Red Sox such as outfielder Josh Beckett, Curt Schilling, Manny Ramirez, Daisuke Matsuzaka, David Ortiz, and others.

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Red Sox Nation: An Unexpurgated History of the Boston Red Sox Review

Red Sox Nation: An Unexpurgated History of the Boston Red Sox
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Red Sox Nation: An Unexpurgated History of the Boston Red Sox ReviewMy daughter gave me this book for my birthday-I am a 50 year old lifelong Sox Fan who has suffered a lot during my life. This book tells the history of the team without pulling any punches, and really explains a lot of why they have been a troubled franchise through the years. Yes, the Curse is finally over, but the stories about how the franchise started, why they really got rid of Babe Ruth, why they didn't sign Jackie Robinson or Willie Mays, well, it all makes sense.Red Sox Nation: An Unexpurgated History of the Boston Red Sox OverviewFor baseball enthusiasts everywhere, the names of the greatest Boston Red Sox are synonymous with the game itself: Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, Dom DiMaggio, Carl Yastrzemski, Johnny Damon, and so many more. And no other franchise can claim as many moments that have become indelible parts of baseball's history: Williams' last at-bat, Carlton Fisk's Game 6 home run, Bill Buckner's fatal error. Red Sox Nation is the finest, most comprehensive history of this storied franchise, told from the point of view of the people who lived it. From every disappointment to each triumph, culminating with the 2004 world championship, Red Sox Nation takes you into the dugout and onto the field to relive each moment.

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The Die-Hard Sports Fans Guide to Boston: A Spectators Handbook Review

The Die-Hard Sports Fans Guide to Boston: A Spectators Handbook
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The Die-Hard Sports Fans Guide to Boston: A Spectators Handbook ReviewA wonderful book covering all aspects of Boston sports.
What amazing photos as well.The Die-Hard Sports Fans Guide to Boston: A Spectators Handbook OverviewBoston isn t just passionate about sports it s obsessed. The Die-Hard Sports Fan s Guide to Boston is the first and only comprehensive guide to the incredible range of spectator sporting events in and around the Hub. Discover the heart and soul of Boston among the fans at Fenway Park, the mobs lining the route of the Boston Marathon, the tailgaters at Boston College, and the crowds celebrating yet another championship for the Pats, Sox, and Celts. Paying tribute to Boston s legendary sports history, and covering everything from the Red Sox farm teams to the Head of the Charles, Christopher Klein provides the practical information devoted fans need: How to get tickets even at the last minute; how save cash; where to score autographs; the best Boston sports bars (here and around the world!); itineraries for out-of-town sports pilgrimages; and the Top Ten Things All Boston Fans Must Do Before the Fat Lady Sings. Whether you re a rookie or an old-timer, The Die-Hard Sports Fan s Guide to Boston is your all-access ticket to the greatest sports city in the world.

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Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero Review

Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero
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Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero ReviewWhat Richard Cramer did for a biography on Joe DiMaggio, Leigh Montville has done for a biography on Ted Williams. The book is nearly 500 pages long, and I remained riveted to it until I finished it in a few days. All facets of Ted's personality, warts and all, are included in providing us with information on Ted's dysfunctional family, his love of fishing on the Florida Keys and the Miramichi River in New Brunswick, his initial success in managing the Washington Senators, his hair trigger temper that produced a string of profanities, his difficulties with his marriage partners, and his experiences in World War II and the Korean War. In regard to baseball his obsession with hitting led to his goal of being known as the greatest hitter that ever lived. Ted paid the price to reach his goal in studying hitting as no other hitter has ever done before. He enjoyed picking the brain of Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby who told Williams the secret in hitting is getting a good ball to hit. By this he meant getting ahead in the count (2-0 or 3-1) so the pitcher was put in a situation where he would throw the pitch you, the batter, would be looking for to hit. The book is full of anecdotes of Williams's teammates and opponents from his playing days. It also includes the controversial freezing of Williams's body by son John Henry and sister Claudia while Williams's first child, Bobby-Jo opposed it. Whether Ted, himself, approved of this is left open to question. To me, an interesting story is told by one of his nurses, Virginia Hiley-Self, a Christian, said that Ted Williams accepted the fact that God forgives and provides eternal life. "He prayed," Hiley-Self says. "He knew that Christ was his savior." I have read other biographies of "Teddy Ballgame", but this effort by Leigh Montville stands above the others. Williams's last few years were marred by poor health, but he lived a full life serving his country in two wars, carving out a Hall of Fame baseball career, and fishing for game fish on the Florida Keys and for salmon on the Miramichi River. His was a life fully lived and Leigh Montville has done a wonderful job in presenting all sides of the personality of Ted Williams. To me, this rates as the top baseball book of the year, and maybe even the top biography of anyone for the year.Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero Overview

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